Workflow automation is essential for growing teams, saving hours on task management by minimizing manual work. In this guide, we'll break down a practical example of automating workflows in ClickUp, so tasks like intake, assignment, and tracking happen with just a few clicks.
What You’ll Learn
- How to create a customized intake form
- Setting up a Kanban view for task tracking
- Using ClickUp automations to streamline task assignments
Step 1: Create an Intake Form
The intake form captures essential information for each request. Here’s how:
- Open a new template in ClickUp.
- Add form fields to capture relevant details like “Name,” “Preferred Delivery Date,” and “Service Type.”
Pro Tip: Adjust field settings so key information like “Name” is prominent, making it easier to track later.
Step 2: Set Up a Kanban View
ClickUp’s Kanban view is great for visualizing workflows. Here’s how to enable it:
- Select “Board” as your default view.
- Customize task statuses to reflect different stages of work.
Step 3: Automate Task Assignment
Automation in ClickUp is where the magic happens! Try setting up automation to:
- Assign tasks to specific team members based on task type (e.g., assign “Pressure Washing” jobs to Allie).
- Set custom due dates based on intake form data.
Important: Always test your automations to prevent overwriting important fields, like due dates, unexpectedly.
Wrapping Up
By leveraging these steps, you’ll streamline team operations and create a more efficient workflow in ClickUp. Give it a try and see how much time you can save! And if you’re looking for more tips, check out our free guide to mastering ClickUp for project teams.
Video transcript:
00:01 Hello, welcome to another episode around how to set up ClickUp effectively. We provide expertise and tools of how you can quickly figure out how to use ClickUp for your team or for your company around workflow automation.
00:15 So first, the one today is fairly generic. It's actually a real question from a real company. We're going to talk about how do you use an intake form for a department around, let's call it, widget work.
00:27 We're going to see a Kanban view, and then we're going to see some task-style project plans as opposed to a deep, detailed work breakdown structure.
00:36 And then we're going to try and just play with some basic automations around templates or checklists. Why should you listen to me?
00:41 I'm Jed, I'm founder of Hydrant. Our project manager has put out the fire so your team can execute with ease.
00:46 And, uh, if you're watching, get the free guide. Click up Spastry for busy CEOs and teams. This is for free.
00:52 We put this together. It's comprehensive. I think you're going to like it. Alright, let's get into it. So, first we need to create a new form.
01:00 So I'm going to move my face over. And then, let's, let's create a new template here in our sandbox. And we're going to start with a form.
01:14 Come on, here we go. Okay. So now in our form and what we're going to do is, Let's say, uh, our widget department, uhm, you know, maybe, let's try and do, like, something that might be kind of fun, like pressure washing order form.
01:32 Okay, let's start there. And, what would you like to purchase, uh, is kind of the task name. actually, I don't really like these templates, I'm just going to start there.
01:43 What I want to do is, uhm, just totally blow this up. So, we're going to edit this, and instead of, what would you like to purchase, I really want their name to be first.
01:55 So, what is your name and that is going to translate as the task name, so when a job comes in here, the order form is going to show up, their name is going to be on here.
02:07 So, I like that, it's just a text, basic, any special instructions or requirements, no, we don't like, actually, let's leave that, because that's going to go in the description, maybe we won't, maybe we won't want that.
02:20 What is your preferred delivery date? I like this, this is great, let's keep this, uhm, let's say required, actually, let's change it, no, let's leave it, okay, I'm like, maybe we want to move it, maybe not, I don't know, let's leave it, and then, do you have any relevant examples or or additional details
02:39 , actually what we want here is what is your address, your home address, and instead of an attachment, what we want this to be is a custom field, so actually we're gonna delete, we're gonna remove this, and let's put a custom field field here, create a field, we want a long, actually they might have,
03:07 okay I don't know why that just did that, I think I clicked something, but we might, they might have an So they have location.
03:18 So let's try location. Let's call this place of pressure washing address. I don't, I feel like that's a funny, I didn't name that very well.
03:31 So let's try it. Let's try something different. Let's do, what is the address for the pressure? Pressurewashingjob. And in fact, maybe we want to have multiple options here for the, for the job.
03:57 Job to be done. And because maybe we do pressure washing, maybe we do laundry. Care as well. So I want to keep that in and then I'm going to create that and move it over.
04:07 Come on, drag. I'm struggling just because I'm in developer mode so I could get the right resolution. Hold on. I got that.
04:15 And then I'm going to have one more question, which is. Uh, maybe I don't want any of those. Let's create a custom field, create field and we're going to have a drop down choice and it's good service.
04:29 What service are you requesting? I have a drop down. We're going to say pressure washing. Add option. Lawn care. Cool.
04:47 I'm gonna hit create. And then we're going to add it. So now it's down here and they gotta choose and you can see there's a logic button.
04:56 So if you if you want a form to change based off of this request. Response, you can totally do that, but we're just going to keep it simple for now.
05:05 Okay, so this is our form. This is sitting here and now what happens is we have a published link and we can copy it and I'm just going to go ahead and put it in here.
05:24 Give it a second to pull up. And if you could have it be your company logo, like there's, there's all like, this is customizable, but this is just the basic quick and dirty version.
05:37 And before I put in this, I'm going to actually do a little bit of logic. So we go back here to our list and what I want is a automation.
05:48 First I should probably, let's just do this really quick so you can see. And actually let's first let's Let's make board our default view.
06:00 Okay, and we have just some kind of basic statuses here. We could obviously change the statuses. So when task or sub task is created from just, let's just go with the form.
06:18 Then we're going to not set a custom field. We're going to change assignees. And in fact, if the custom field is what service are you requesting is equal to pressure washing, then we're going to assign it to Alley.
06:39 We're going to get these to Alley. And then we're going to have it be a due date. Instead of change assignees, we're going to set a, we're going to give it a status change of planning.
06:52 And that could be like scheduling. We could rename it scheduling. And then we're going to, uhm, Let's say, maybe change the due date, uh, maybe on the trigger date.
07:10 So when this task is created, if it's pressure washing, it's going to assign it to Allie, move the status to planning, and put the due date for today.
07:19 So that'll show up. So I'm going to hit create, we got that set up, now let's go back to our order form, I'm just going to give it a quick refresh, I'm going to say Jed Butler, do not wash the pots as they are fragile driveways.
07:40 Wednesday is great, can use our hose bib on east side of house, cool. Winter delivery date, I want it done, I think Wednesday is a good day because I've got a party on Thursday or Friday, so that's cool.
08:00 I'm gonna put in my address, uhm, let's try 101 State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, okay, this isn't our actual address, it's just down the road, and then we're gonna say pressure Thank you for watching and have and we're gonna hit submit.
08:22 Hey, and you can customize this too, by the way, so that's kind of fun. And looks like we're getting an ad, probably because this is a public link and we are not sure.
08:35 That's cool. Good for them. Okay. And guess what? It already ran. You can see this job is here and it's assigned for today.
08:45 It's the task is due today and it's got Allie assigned to it, but let's pull it up. Like, did it get everything?
08:52 Oh, look, do not wash the pots. We've got that information here. Date is here, but can you guys see the pot?
09:02 So here's the thing. The due date was set for Wednesday, but because of the automation I created, it reset the due date to today.
09:13 So that's a problem. And I might actually, this is why it's so important to test your workflows before you do anything.
09:19 Uhm, but what I would probably do is create a custom field for customer desired date of pressure wash, or of service, let's call it service.
09:30 And then you'd see that down here. And then the dates here can be tied to scheduling the work. So hopefully that makes sense, the distinction.
09:39 Uhm, because that got overwritten the way that I set it up. Okay. Hopefully this has been fun. You've seen how we could do an intake form and how it can go into a service scheduler, um, and how you might see it on a Kanban board.
09:52 And then, um, how we could see the automation in play. Hope this helps and hope that you can get your pressure washer business going.
10:00 Going right away.